The Auditor's Guide to Internet Resources, 2nd Edition is the only book on the Internet written expressly for internal auditors. Expanded and updated to include the latest Internet trends and resources, the book provides all the Internet competency skills auditors need to become digitally literate. Order your copy now!  Call 877-867-4947 (Toll free in U.S. and Canada) or FAX 770-442-9742 or email iiapubs@pbd.com  Use Order Number KPR320 and receive the IIA member price. It pays to use AuditNet! 

Available on CD-ROM!

AuditNet Free!

AuditNet remains free to the global audit community because it is supported by sponsors. By supporting our sponsors you are supporting AuditNet and ensuring it's continued existence.

Support our sponsors to help keep AuditNet a free resource to the global audit community. There are many opportunities for corporations and vendors to sponsor the AuditNet site. Contact editor@auditnet.org for advertising, sponsorship and partner information.

AuditNet welcomes an article each month from Andersen's KnowledgeSpace. KnowledgeSpace is a subscription-based web site that provides, tools, resources and best practices to help internal auditors save time, manage risk, and add value. For more information go to www.knowledgespace.com 

This month read about Information security and the Winter Olympics

When next year's Winter Olympics wrap up in Salt Lake City, Utah, Wayne Varga won't be walking away with any medals. But if all goes well, he will breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Varga is chief information security officer for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002. Talk about pressure: If networks break down or security is breached, the whole world will be watching.

Varga views the challenge with aplomb. "This is probably one of the best places in the world to apply information security expertise and to basically test knowledge and experience," he says. Varga recently spoke with KnowledgeSpace about his work and what companies can learn from these Olympic efforts.

Read the entire article generously shared by Andersen's KnowledgeSpace® Internal Audit and Risk Management Community.  

Support the Relief Effort!

AuditNet joins the world in sympathy and prayer for those innocent lives lost at the hands of terrorists on September 11. If you would like to help please send donations to the:

 American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund

AutoAudit takes the "paper" out of paperwork for HUD Inspector General.

The Office of Inspector General at the Department of Housing and Urban Development implemented AutoAudit software to assist its 300 auditors in transforming the OIG office into a paperless environment. The HUD audit staff conducts 160 audits each year creating an average of 3,600 pages of information per audit. Adding to the challenge is the fact that the HUD audit staff is distributed across the country, working out of more than 15 local and district offices as well as the headquarters in Washington, DC. 

To read how OIG HUD uses AutoAudit click here.

Need an answer to to an audit question? Looking for an audit program? Then perhaps you should give the ANA (Ask the 'Net Auditor) forum a try. Send your question along with a contribution of an audit work program, ICQ, checklist, or other audit resource and the audit gurus at AuditNet will try to answer the query to the best of their ability. No guarantees but with the Internet at our side we do a pretty good job!  

Wow! 
New Programs and Workpapers 
Added to AuditNet

The following programs are either text or word format or as indicated. To access the programs in another format go to the AuditNet home page or the  Audit Programs page. 

1. Accounts Payable SAP Application Controls
2. Accounts Payable SAP Risk Matrix (Word)
3. Fire Protection Audit Checklist
4. Generalized Application Security Audit Program
5. Gas Production Audit Program
6. Licensee Royalty Audit Program (Word)
7. Materials Audit Questionnaire
8. MIS Review Work Program from the FFIEC
9. Oil Refinery Audit Program
10. Retail Store Operations
11. Risk Assessment Audit Program from the City of San Jose
12. Sales and Accounts Receivable Audit Program (Word)
13. Telephone Banking Audit Program

Auditors Sharing Audit Workpapers

1. Control Self Assessment ICQ (Cadbury) (Word)

2. Finding Development Worksheet

3. Summary of Audit Results and Potential Recommendations 

Do you have an audit work program to contribute?  Send it to editor@auditnet.org. To see audit programs that auditors are looking for, go to Audit Programs and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Coming next month!

The following audit documents will be posted next month. Interested in them now? Send an audit work program, ICQ, checklist or other audit template and receive them via e-mail:

Monthly substation inspection checklist
Electrical safety checklist
Equipment inspection checklist
General safety checklist
Daily excavation checklist

Partner with AuditNet

 

If you sell goods or services to the auditing community consider AuditNet as your partner for global outreach. Offer AuditNet users a discount on your product or service and we will include a link to your site on the AuditNet Partner Discounts page.

As an example: White-Collar Crime Fighter www.wccfighter.com the only source of exclusive, authoritative "how-to" information for financial crime fighters offers AuditNet users a discounted subscription rate of $77-- a savings of $20 off the regular rate. 

This is a great publication and well worth the annual subscription rate. I find at least one practical article from each issue that helps me focus on fraud issues within my organization! 

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Productivity Tip

Virtual Internet Search Tips for Auditors (VISTA)
Using fields for focused Internet searches

Auditors are familiar with the term "fieldwork" which is the process of gathering evidence and analyzing and evaluating that evidence as directed by the approved Audit Procedures. Well when using search engines another way to gather information is by field searching. Web pages are composed of several major fields including title, host (or site), domain, URL, and link. When information is entered into a record's field, many major search engines allow you to retrieve it by using the correct field label in combination with your search term(s). Field searching on the web can be a very powerful tool. It allows you to specify exactly where you want the search engine to look in the web document for your query term.

Next month we will begin by demonstrating a search using titles.

 

For more productivity tips order a copy of The Auditor's Guide to Internet Resources 2nd Edition from the IIA

 

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Employers Seeking Audit Candidates?

Looking to fill an audit position for your organization?

Consider using the AuditNet Audit Jobs area. The page provides exposure to over 17,000 audit professionals every month from all over the world. The Jobs page receives between 3000-4000 hits per month. The cost is low. Tell your HR department about using this option when you are looking for audit candidates. Go to the AuditNet home page at www.auditnet.org and click on Audit Jobs. Click on Post Jobs for posting information.

Looking to make a career change? Go to AuditNet's Audit Jobs section for the latest job opportunities. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week you have the ability to not only look at available jobs, but you can also post your resume, apply for open jobs, research companies and obtain career advice. If you are in the market for a new job, make AuditNet your first stop to check out what's available.

This is just another benefit of using AuditNet as your one stop shop for all your audit and career resources.

Help Keep AuditNet Current!

AuditNet is a tool used by auditors from around the world. It is therefore very important that the links are current.  If you find a link that is outdated, broken, or going to the wrong site, be a helpful user and let us know. Send an email to editor@auditnet.org and provide the details including the date, URL of the bad address and  the name of the site. We will do our best to  either correct the link or remove it so that all AuditNet users benefit. 

Thanks!  

The Editor

No Budget for Audit Software
(AuditNet Article exclusive from PCProfile)

An AuditNet exclusive from PCProfile discusses the issue of overcoming management resistance to investing in software audit tools. The article provides very convincing arguments on why management should be taking this risk seriously!

Click here for the complete AuditNet exclusive! 

Declaring War on Software Pirates 

Save $$ on the 
Software Compliance Auditors Toolkit

Be prepared when the software police come knocking on your door!

AuditNet Users Save $200 - Save $$ and get legal! Check it out!

Marketing Internal Audit Seminar Soon Available!

Another digital seminar titled "Marketing Internal Audit" will be available shortly.

Remember, anyone submitting an article, URL not already listed (as a sample), PowerPoint presentation, capabilities brochure, or other material that we use will receive a copy of the finished CD. We are particularly seeking capabilities brochures and presentation developed by Internal Auditors.

Authors that can author an entire CD can receive royalty payments - contact Joe Pleier at jpleier@pleier.com for details.

(I have copies of the previous CD's and they are excellent resources for all audit shops!)

For more workpaper solutions for your audit office check out the following AuditNet sponsors:

Many times auditors want to see what messages were posted to the list to see if their question can be answered there. Also new subscribers have an opportunity to review the archives as another research resource. AuditNet uses a public archive service for both Audit-l and AuditPrograms-l. The URL's to reach these archives is as follows.

Archives for Audit-L www.mail-archive.com/audit-l@list.auditnet.org/

Archives for Auditprograms-l www.mail-archive.com/auditprograms-l@list.auditnet.org/

CAREER TIPS FOR AUDITORS

Disaster Planning for Job Security

by Robbie Miller Kaplan

None of us wants to think that our jobs are in jeopardy. But the economy has taken an unpredictable shift and it is helpful to prepare for the possibility of downsizing so you are not caught by surprise. The following advance prep will help reduce the stress inherent in an unexpected job search:

1. If you don't have a resume, prepare one.
2. If you have a resume, update it.
3. Make a list of three to five individuals you can use as a reference. Draft a list that indicates their name, organization, job title, work, and home phone numbers. 
If you do need to use the list you can quickly get their permission.

4. Make a list of all the vehicles you can use to locate job opportunities for example: employment classified advertisements, jobs posted online, organization Web sites, professional journals, organizational newsletters, Federal and State employment agencies, and job hotlines.
5. Review actual job announcements of interests and create a list of job
requirements.
6. Cross reference the job requirements lists against your resume.
7. If you find you are lacking a credential or qualification, make plans to update your skills, training, or certifications or ask for a new responsibility in your current position.
8. Create drafts of different kinds of letters and save the models in your computer.
9. Identify and activate your network now. It is always easier to build your network when you are not needy.
10. Upgrade your Internet skills to effectively research potential organizations, salaries, and opportunities.

Good luck!

Each month the AuditNet Resource Newsletter includes a career-related tip from Robbie Miller Kaplan, author of How to Say It in Your Job Search (available November 2001). If you like these tips, check out her books! For more career tips go the Job-Resources Web site at www.job-resources.com.

Book Review 

Digital Analysis Using Benford's Law 

by Mark J. Nigrini

Benford's Law, first identified by Simon Newcomb in 1881, states that if you randomly select a number from a table of physical constants or statistical data, the probability that the first digit will be a "1" is about 30%, rather than 10% as we might expect if all digits were equally likely.

According to Mark Nigrini, the author of Digital Analysis Using Benford's Law, the audit technology known as Digital Analysis (DA), tests for abnormalities in the digit patterns and abnormal number duplication in corporate data. Mr. Nigrini does a formidable job of explaining how to use digital analysis in performing audit tests of data.

For the full book review click here!

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